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stelly38 · 2 months ago

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“I can’t remember how much bonking I did” —Aidan Turner

With Ross Poldark behind him, the star of Di5ney’s adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals talks ’80s excess, intimacy coaches and beef brisket.

Here I am, avidly watching the first few episodes of Rivals, the sizzling new Disney+ treatment of Dame Jilly Cooper’s raunchy blockbuster, before my interview with dreamboat-y Aidan Turner, when my 22-year-old daughter walks into the room. “What the actual?” she cries, open-mouthed in horror. “Oh my God! What are they doing?”

I chide her prudishness. “Well, if you must know, Rupert Campbell-Black and a woman he probably just met have reached a shuddering climax on Concorde,” I explain. “Your generation didn’t invent sex, you know, darling – the Mile High Club has been around for…” but it turns out that’s not what’s triggered her.

“These people are SMOKING! On. A. Plane. Who even does that?” Everybody, that’s who. Welcome to the sassy, sexy 1980s, Missy. Double-breasted suits and taffeta skirts, booze, bonking, endless ciggies and hairstyles so fugly (the mullet, for pity’s sake?) as to have recently crept back into fashion. It’s all there: rampant sexism, social climbing and conspicuous consumption, to a banging soundtrack of Eurythmics, Hall & Oates, Haircut 100 and the rest – no idea how The Birdie Song got in there though. Did people really...? Yes, we did. Now run along. From the moment the opening credits roll on Rivals, it’s fair to say we are immersed in a very different, instantly recognisable universe.

I lapped up every transgressive minute. Why, dear readers, the last time I enjoyed a pleasure quite so guilty was when Aidan Turner took off his shirt in… “I’m not here to talk about Poldark,” says Turner very politely, with a fabulously winning white smile, when we meet. So we don’t. At least for a bit. We are here, after all, to discuss his new role in this very different literary classic – and no, ladies, he’s not been cast as the libidinous blaggard Campbell-Black. As if. County Dublin-born Turner, 41, was a shoo-in for dashing Declan O’Hara, the saturnine Irish journalist turned reluctant chat-show host who finds himself at the epicentre of a battle royale in the cut-throat world of independent television. David Tennant plays Corinium TV boss Lord Baddingham, and Alex Hassell’s Rupert Campbell-Black has ascended to the lofty heights of Tory Minister for Sport.

I could try to explain, but that’s about all the primer you need – rest assured that with this high-budget adaptation, even the most loyal of Cooper’s fans will find themselves safe in its (wandering) hands. “Rivals is about the three things that fascinate all of us: sex, power and money,” says Turner. “That trifecta is especially potent when there’s a clash of status and class. Class informs all sorts of things, including the sex, which is sometimes completely transactional on both sides. From the very top to the very bottom of the ladder, everyone’s slightly on the make.”

Speaking of the top and indeed the bottom, the eight-part series employed not one but two intimacy coaches. “They had a lot of intimacy to coach,” confirms Turner breezily. “I think they really improve sex scenes because they encourage creativity and it all looks so much more authentic. There’s a lot of bonking. I want to say I did a lot of bonking – I can’t quite remember how much.”

Declan is very much the dark-eyed, watchful outsider, his integrity as deep-rooted as his humongous moustache – “artist’s own”, remarks Turner. (He speaks in mellifluous Irish tones and uses his own accent to play Declan.) Amid the jostling for supremacy in the first few episodes, Declan’s only crime appears to be wearing mustard socks on air and having sensuous congress with his own wife (played with exquisite brittleness by Victoria Smurfit).

Such uxoriousness appears borderline scandalous in Dame Jilly’s masterfully constructed world of egos, oneupmanship and serial adultery, which signals that despite being a workaholic, Declan is clearly a good ’un – although, to be fair, I have only seen the first three episodes.

“I hadn’t read Rivals before. It seemed very British so it wasn’t really on my radar, but it’s really fun – although later on it descends into something much murkier. I just read the scripts initially and then was really struck by how faithful they were to the book,” says Turner, who is married to the American Succession actor Caitlin FitzGerald, 41. “You get a real sense of the characters in the first 15 or 20 pages and it’s a mark of excellent writing that you feel you already know these people.”

Whether or not you like them is up to you, but it’s absolutely gripping and Turner’s character is right at the heart of the story. “Rivals is a really truthful depiction of an era that in a great many ways was hugely problematic,” says Turner. “It’s not being refracted through a modern lens and some of it is quite shocking, particularly the way women are treated. There’s also endless back-stabbing; Declan is detached, the one who sees what’s going on, and because he’s not from this class-bound world [he] struggles to understand the playbook – but he’s married to a woman who does and that causes tension.”

To research the role of a broadcasting homme sérieux, Turner trawled YouTube to watch hours of Firing Line, the US current-affairs talk show presented by conservative pundit William F Buckley Jr for 33 years. From 1966 to 1999, he verbally sparred with leading figures of the age.

“I felt it was important to look to older shows, the way they were presented and the communication style,” says Turner. “The interviewee would be given time and space to answer questions in full. These days it’s very different; the nearest we have to that now would be podcasts.”

“Once filming started, to be honest I was channelling my dad the whole time. He’s an electrician, not a journalist, but Declan is very like him – the way he carries himself, the tone of his voice, his passion. He feels very Irish and so does Declan.”

For Alexander Lamb, an executive producer on Rivals, finding the right fit for the pivotal character of Declan was crucial. “The very first person we thought about – the very first person we cast – for Rivals was Aidan. He was the lynchpin because he just felt so right; he’s got depth but also such charm and that was exactly what we wanted. A lot of the cast was built around him.” That cast also includes EastEnder Danny Dyer, Katherine Parkinson, best known for The IT Crowd, Emily Atack of Inbetweeners fame, and Claire Rushbrook, who was in the first series of Sherwood. When it came to Turner, Lamb had been impressed by his previous standout roles as a vampire in the supernatural series Being Human and a clinical psychologist in police procedural The Suspect.

“Aidan hadn’t played sexy-dad-with-teenagers or an intellectual journalist before, so that gave the whole thing a freshness. I think there’s a lot to be gained from getting actors out of their comfort zones,” observes Lamb. “I’ve never really worked with an actor before who was so conscious of his performance. He would come back behind the camera to see if he could improve on what he’d done.” Dame Jilly, adds Lamb, needed no persuasion in casting Turner. “It did not escape her just how good-looking Mr. Aidan Turner was. Let’s just say she became quite the fan.” Turner responds in kind, with unalloyed admiration. “Jilly is so sharp, perceptive and really funny – she’s very kind, but as she was seeing the daily and the weekly rushes I am quite certain that if she hadn’t liked what any of us were doing, she would have told us very swiftly.”

Later, he quietly relates a telling conversation with Cooper at a garden party held at her Gloucestershire gaff (to call it a pile would be too excessive, to call it a house too modest), one summer evening last year, after filming. “I remember a surreal moment when she took me by the arm and led me around the garden, pointing out the place where she would write and how she would look over the valley,” he says. “And then she pointed out the houses where her nearest neighbours and friends lived and said, ‘This is Declan O’Hara’s house, and that one’s Tony’s house,’ and explained how she would visualise the world of Rivals. It was a very special moment.” How magical, I say. He nods very slowly, the corners of his mouth twitching, eyes crinkling at the preciousness of the memory. He’s so unabashedly soulful, I almost have to look away. And so, to business: is Turner really as handsome as they say? Hmm. Maybe that’s what strikes you first but, in truth, it’s the least interesting thing about him.

Born in Clondalkin, a town outside Dublin, before the family moved to a suburb of the city, Turner admits he was never academically inclined. With a low boredom threshold, he struggled to concentrate at school, but when his accountant mother took him along to dance classes, he excelled; he went on to compete in ballroom dancing at national level, but lost momentum.

There was a stint working as an electrician with his father, but it was a job at the local cinema that sparked his interest in acting, entering the Gaiety School of Acting, Ireland’s national theatre school, where he graduated in 2004. After appearing in several theatre productions, including Seán O’Casey’s Easter Rising play The Plough and the Stars, he got his first major television gig in 2008 in the Irish hospital drama The Clinic.

“I was a lowly receptionist and Victoria Smurfit, who is my wife in Rivals, was a consultant,” he smiles. “Let’s just say we didn’t have a huge number of scenes together back then, so it’s great to catch up now.” Soon the BBC beckoned and he was cast as Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood drama Desperate Romantics. The six-parter failed to make a mark, but led to a critically acclaimed role in the comedy-drama Being Human, where he caught the eye of director Sir Peter Jackson, who cast Turner as the dwarf Kili in The Hobbit trilogy between 2012 and 2014.

Various other parts followed, culminating in his award-winning portrayal of Captain Ross Poldark in the 2015 revival of the BBC classic, which ran for five series and made him both a household name and a pin-up among ladies (and interviewers) d’un certain age.

After he was shown scything a field shirtless, a sheen of sweat on his ripped – sorry – torso, the Sunday-night concupiscence became so pronounced that media commentators called out the reverse sexism and denounced the reductive way in which Turner was being treated as a piece of prime meat. A decade on, he still seems mildly baffled, but not ungrateful, for the attention, if loath to dwell on it. “There are worse things to be known for than having a nice physique,” he says, philosophically. “But that was a long time ago and I’ve done a lot of fully clothed work since.” Hilariously, in Rivals, Declan finds himself sharing a schedule with a series called Four Men Went To Mow, featuring a quartet of topless hunks – with scythes. Turner almost leaps off the sofa when I bring it up. “I know! I was reading the script and when I saw the Four Men Went To Mow reference, I assumed someone was deliberately winding me up. Then I realised it was actually in the original book, so I took a deep breath and let it go.”

I can confirm he’s fully dressed for our interview, wearing a mustard top by British menswear brand Oliver Spencer, which he dryly describes as ‘drab chic’, Levi’s 501s, and a pair of trainers. He points out they are classic white Reeboks with a natural gum sole. I admit I didn’t know that was A Thing. “To be honest, neither did I,” he shrugs in good-natured agreement. “They were a present from a mate of mine – he’s a musician so far cooler than me, obviously – and he was very emphatic that the soles were a big deal.”

On his wrist is a 1969 Omega Seamaster. “It cost less than £2,000, it was an anniversary gift and the only watch I own,’”he offers, pre-emptively. “Oh, and I’m not sponsored by Omega, none of that.” Would he like to be? I ask mischievously. “Ah well, I’d certainly take the phone call. You always like to have options.” This is all the more interesting because later I ask if there’s any truth in tabloid rumours that he has variously been earmarked as the new Bergerac and the next James Bond. He denies both charges. “But you’d take the calls presumably?” I suggest. A pregnant pause follows. “You know, I don’t think I would. I have to say I think I’d pass on those.” Bergerac I can understand – but intimations of 007 are, like talk of knighthoods, not to be trifled with, much less dismissed out of hand, however cat’s-chance unlikely.

Turner just pulls a slightly apologetic face (possibly for the benefit of his aghast agent reading this). But really it should come as no surprise; Turner has built up a reputation as a protean performer, moving seamlessly between television, film and the stage in a variety of markedly different roles. Last year he appeared opposite Jenna Coleman in a minimalist two-hander, the West End revival of Sam Steiner’s 2015 fringe hit Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, about love and language. Director Josie Rourke says she cast Turner not just because he is ‘brilliant’, but because he has an ability to connect with his character and with the audience.

“Aidan is a very technical and focused actor who really works hard to prepare – in that respect he’s not dissimilar to David Tennant. That might make him sound dour or serious, but he’s very personable and funny,” says Rourke, a former artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in London. “He’s acutely aware, in a lovely way, of every single person in the room. There’s something fundamentally unselfish about his performances.”

Off stage, Turner leads a quiet life with his family in an 18th-century house in east London, which he famously furnished with the table and chairs from the Poldark set in Cornwall. He looks amused when I wonder aloud if he hangs out – virtually or actually – with the slew of young Irish actors, like Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan, who have made a name for themselves. “It sounds boring but I work, and then when a project is finished I start reading scripts again,” he says. “I’m not on social media, I don’t get wrapped [up] comparing myself to anyone else. Frankly, it’s hard enough keeping track of my own career. Since the birth of our son, my wife and I have agreed that only one of us will take a job away from home at any given time; we’ve not [had] a clash yet but we’ll have to see what happens when the time comes.”

They did, however, both have plays on in the West End at one point last year; he was appearing in Lemons while she was in The Crucible. “It worked out really well, we headed out in different directions during the day, catching up with friends and getting stuff done, far too busy to see each other,” he recalls. “Each of us did our show then we would meet up afterwards and share a cab home. It was really fun, but that sort of synchronicity is quite rare.” Like a lot of actors, Turner is guarded when it comes to discussing his personal life. Although frenzied interest from the paparazzi has calmed down post-Poldark, every so often pictures do appear in the tabloids – and Rivals will no doubt increase his bankability. It is something he accepts with equanimity.

“If I do get snapped, I don’t make a fuss or get angry, but I try to stay out of the way.” I remind him of a very striking photo of him putting the rubbish out in a frankly extraordinary receptacle. “Ah yes, maybe I should get rid of the fluorescent pink wheelie bin, a bit of an own goal,” he sighs.

I bet he doesn’t. Far too much of a compromise. I do manage to winkle a few details out of him by playing my fellow Irishwoman card and discover that he’s a ‘serious’ pool player – just this week he settled down in front of a recording of Steve Davis and his teammates taking the 2002 Mosconi Cup in Bethnal Green. He plays golf, enjoys music, and is an avowed Nick Cave fan.

“I’d have to say my favourite downtime is having friends round for good banter and food in the garden, weather allowing. I’m trying to perfect the manly art of beef brisket in my [Big] Green Egg barbecue. I think one of the reasons Rivals was such a happy show to work on was because so many of the scenes were us all together at parties. Then at the end of the day we’d kick back and half of us would still be in character.”

And what characters they are, all dressed up in their ’80s finery, jockeying for position, angling for seduction as Tears for Fears belt out ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World.’ Gen Z won’t understand, much less approve (lock up your 22-year-olds), but as a snapshot of a bygone age, Rivals promises to be TV gold, and at its glittering epicentre, Declan O’Hara, legendary brooding broadcaster with the biggest ’tache in town.

All episodes of Rivals are available on Di5ney+ from 18 October

Interview by Judith Woods from The Telegraph; Photos by John Balsom.

#aidan turner #rivals #declan o'hara #interview #copy pasted #for anyone who's paywalled #The Telegraph 27 September 2024 2:30 PM #Judith Woods #John Balsom

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captain-ross-poldark · 3 months ago

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Red Magazine October 2024

I here’s a moment in Rivals, the new television adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s bestselling novel, when Aidan Turner’s character recites WB Yeats’ famous poem When You Are Old. It’s a moment of peak Irishness, and, for Turner, who has long cherished a yearning to play a literary Irish character, the scene was joyous. ‘I loved it!’ he exclaims over Zoom, grin wide across his face. ‘I think I was enjoying it way too much. I could smell the classroom again when I started reading that. I was going, “Oh, my god, I remember all of these poems!”’

Turner is trying hard right now not to use the word ‘fun’ when describing Rivals, but he tells me that it’s proving rather impossible. ‘It was the most fun I think I’ve ever had on a production,’ he declares. Watching the show, I can’t say that I doubt him for a second. Set in the fictional upper-class county of Rutshire, Disney’s raunchy new series delves into the cut-throat world of independent television in 1986, in which a long-simmering rivalry between Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant), controller of Corinium Television, and notorious womaniser Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) is threatening to boil over. Against a backdrop of sex, scandals and scheming, Irishman Declan O’Hara (Turner), a talented talkshow star who is wooed to the countryside to join Corinium, vows to get his revenge.

‘I THINK WORKING ON RIVALS WAS THE MOST FUN I’VE EVER HAD ON A PRODUCTION’

‘It happens once in a while when all the stars align,’ enthuses Turner, ‘and you get a bunch of really great actors who want to work with each other, want to work on this material and who want to be in this particular place at this particular time.’ Reading the script, he could immediately understand O’Hara’s sense of alienation as he steps into a quintessentially British world obsessed with class. ‘Because I’m Irish, I didn’t have to try too hard to put those glasses on,’ he explains. ‘It seems to me very much like he is the outsider. He doesn't really like the people or what they’re trying to achieve. He sort of has a bohemian sensibility. He’s a literate person, a more serious person. He’s a journalist. He likes things black and white, straight and clear, and this world I think he finds a bit gross.’

As you’d expect from a Jilly Cooper adaptation, Rivals is a rollickingly entertaining romp, full to the brim with helicopters, horse riding, lavish parties and romantic entanglements. But the show has political shades, too, examining questions of race, gender, class and sexual liberation through a 2020s lens. ‘I think it feels really truthful and honest,’ Turner says with sincerity. ‘I think we’re showing a world that, I think in some ways, still does exist, but very much existed in a different way back then. And I think we show it in a kind of no-frills approach to it.’ With the exception of high-powered executive Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams), Turner notes that the majority of the women in the show don’t hold positions of power. ‘We show the hypocrisy and the bigotry in that,’ he adds passionately. ‘It’s not just like, “Here’s what it was like, let’s move on,” you know? It’s not just a museum piece. I think we’re showing how wrong that was, how difficult that was, and I think how we’ve made improvements in the years gone by.’

He suspects that some viewers won’t expect that commentary from a show like Rivals. ‘They may think it’s fluffy, or it’s just a comedy,’ he says. ‘I mean, it’s very much not. I don’t think you get the calibre of actors involved in the show if it was just that, either.’ The cast became like a family unit, he says, and for actors of a similar age to himself, some of whom are parents, filming the show in the Cotswolds offered a unique opportunity to bond. ‘You know, we’re getting out of London for a week or two, and we’re getting to hang out in Bristol and have cocktails at night and talk about the show and do all these things,’ he explains. ‘We quickly realised that this is quite special, and we’re going to lean right into it.’ Did that involve getting into the party spirit, I ask? ‘I don’t want to start getting in trouble,’ he chuckles. ‘But there was a sprinkle of hedonism over the production, for sure. It makes the show better.’

If Rivals offered Turner a little escapism, it’s also further proof that as an actor, he can’t be neatly categorised. Since galloping onto our screens as the swashbuckling, scythe-swinging protagonist in Poldark, he’s resisted being pigeonholed as a romantic lead, winning plaudits playing a top coach accused of abuse in tennis drama Fifteen-Love, and a chilling clinical psychologist in crime thriller The Suspect. ‘It was nice to do a couple of shows that were in contemporary worlds, you know, wearing suits and jeans and shoes and carrying iPhones,’ he says modestly. ‘And not riding around in horses and carriages, or in a world of goblins and orcs or whatever. So yeah, it’s good to mix it up, but you never know what’s around the corner.’

Let it be known, though, that if the occasion calls for Turner to jump on a horse, he’s more than up to the task. As well as riding, he boasts an impressive range of talents, including being a champion ballroom dancer. What skills did he learn on the set of Rivals? ‘I can drink whiskey like nobody’s business,’ he laughs. That, and drive O’Hara’s yellow Mini. ‘That Mini was almost impossible to drive, and I’m pretty good at it now.’ He did also grow a statement moustache. ‘For the first time in my life as an actor, I felt a little bit sad to get rid of it,’ he says ruefully. ‘I had it for so long. We’ll see if it comes back’.

He’s excited for Rivals to make its way out into the world. ‘We’re all just really happy and proud, he says. ‘You know, it’s the show that we set out to make, which is also a rare thing.’ That said, he’s not in a rush to find his next project. ‘Sometimes you also just need to step back for a while and not work all the time, and wait for the good thing to come along,’ he muses. ‘I’m a better person when I do the work that I really want to do.’ When we speak, he’s in Canada with his wife, Succession star Caitlin FitzGerald, who is filming, and his two-year-old son. They navigate who takes on the next project, he explains, by having an open dialogue. ‘I mean, our lives have changed a lot and not a lot at the same time, if you know what I mean. We’re still both working. We’re still both lucky that way. We can keep working and keep our family life together, and everything is just great and happy.’

‘I LOVE BEING AN ACTOR, BUT I THINK THERE’S ALSO SOME OTHER HATS THAT I CAN PUT ON’

Turner’s not at liberty to discuss his next project, but he’s very excited for it. ‘It’s a very different type of show than anything I’ve done before,’ he smiles. In the future, he envisages working more with friends and hopes to turn his hand to producing. ‘I love being an actor. But I think there’s also some other hats I can put on that I can be equally as good at, if not better.’ In the meantime, he says, his roles are only getting more interesting. ‘It’s the best thing!’ he exclaims. ‘I mean, I sort of knew it was gonna happen.’ With the benefit of life experience, he explains, his characters are naturally getting more layered. ‘I think that matters you know? I want to listen to a 41-year-old man, over a 21-year-old man. I just do,’ he says emphatically. ‘For me, that’s more interesting.’

Twenty years after breaking into the industry, he’s lost the ‘cacophony of nerves’ that came with trying to impress as a young actor. ‘I’ve learned that it’s okay to find the thing, or to not know the thing, to get on set and go, “Okay, I have no idea how we’re going to do this.”’ It’s been freeing, he says, learning to let go. ‘Now it’s fun and creative and it feels more relaxed, and then the work is better through all that, too. So I guess if I could say something to the younger actor, it would just be, breathe. Everything’s gonna be fine. You know the lines, you know the work. Just get in there and have fun. And don’t worry so much about the work itself. The work will happen. Just let you happen first.’

Rivals is streaming on Disney+ this autumn

#aidan turner #poldark

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frannyzooey · 8 days ago

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oh my GOD kelli the aidan turner clip is from Rivals on Disney+ and you simply must watch it! i started this morning at the very strong recommendation of our @mrsmando and i’ll never be the same again

listen.

I have been obsessed with Aidan Turner since forever - Being Human?? POLDARK, my life's obsession??? And I was so excited when I saw him in the gifs for this thing, and then I asked @mrsmando (who literally never steers anyone wrong, amirite) and HELLO

HELLO

The way he just fucking walks around in this show? The way he fucks?!!! The way he talks to his wife?!

fucking end me.

I binged in one day, and came out of it with 1) a deep need to run my hands over Aidan's body hair and 2) a new age gap ship, which honestly makes it the best watch in a while ❤️❤️❤️

It was so good!!!

#rivals ask #aidan turner

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turneradora · 2 months ago

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THANK YOU SO MUCH TO Emma Jones for the article in the Telegraph

🌹❤️💋

The Telegrah

Judith Woods

27 September 2024 2:30pm

‘What the actual?’ she cries, open-mouthed in horror. ‘Oh my God! What are they doing?’

I chide her prudishness. ‘Well, if you must know, Rupert Campbell-Black and a woman he probably just met have reached a shuddering climax on Concorde,’ I explain. ‘Your generation didn’t invent sex, you know, darling – the Mile High Club has been around for…’ but it turns out that’s not what’s triggered her.

‘These people are SMOKING! On. A. Plane. Who even does that?’

Everybody, that’s who. Welcome to the sassy, sexy 1980s, Missy. Double-breasted suits and taffeta skirts, booze, bonking, endless ciggies and hairstyles so fugly (the mullet, for pity’s sake?) as to have recently crept back into fashion.

It’s all there: rampant sexism, social climbing and conspicuous consumption, to a banging soundtrack of Eurythmics, Hall & Oates, Haircut 100 and the rest – no idea how The Birdie Song got in there though. Did people really...? Yes, we did. Now run along.

From the moment the opening credits roll on Rivals, it’s fair to say we are immersed in a very different, instantly recognisable universe.

I lapped up every transgressive minute. Why, dear readers, the last time I enjoyed a pleasure quite so guilty was when Aidan Turner took off his shirt in…

‘I’m not here to talk about Poldark,’ says Turner very politely, with a fabulously winning white smile, when we meet. So we don’t. At least for a bit. We are here, after all, to discuss his new role in this very different literary classic – and no, ladies, he’s not been cast as the libidinous blaggard Campbell-Black. As if.

County Dublin-born Turner, 41, was a shoo-in for dashing Declan O’Hara, the saturnine Irish journalist turned reluctant chat-show host who finds himself at the epicentre of a battle royale in the cut-throat world of independent television.

David Tennant plays Corinium TV boss Lord Baddingham, and Alex Hassell’s Rupert Campbell-Black has ascended to the lofty heights of Tory Minister for Sport.

‘Rivals is about the three things that fascinate all of us: sex, power and money,’ says Turner. ‘That trifecta is especially potent when there’s a clash of status and class. Class informs all sorts of things, including the sex, which is sometimes completely transactional on both sides. From the very top to the very bottom of the ladder, everyone’s slightly on the make.’

Speaking of the top and indeed the bottom, the eight-part series employed not one but two intimacy coaches. ‘They had a lot of intimacy to coach,’ confirms Turner breezily. ‘I think they really improve sex scenes because they encourage creativity and it all looks so much more authentic. There’s a lot of bonking. I want to say I did a lot of bonking – I can’t quite remember how much.’

Declan is very much the dark-eyed, watchful outsider, his integrity as deep-rooted as his humongous moustache – ‘artist’s own’, remarks Turner. (He speaks in mellifluous Irish tones and uses his own accent to play Declan.) Amid the jostling for supremacy in the first few episodes, Declan’s only crime appears to be wearing mustard socks on air and having sensuous congress with his own wife (played with exquisite brittleness by Victoria Smurfit).

‘I hadn’t read Rivals before. It seemed very British so it wasn’t really on my radar, but it’s really fun – although later on it descends into something much murkier. I just read the scripts initially and then was really struck by how faithful they were to the book,’ says Turner, who is married to the American Succession actor Caitlin FitzGerald, 41. ‘You get a real sense of the characters in the first 15 or 20 pages and it’s a mark of excellent writing that you feel you already know these people.’

Whether or not you like them is up to you, but it’s absolutely gripping and Turner’s character is right at the heart of the story.

‘Rivals is a really truthful depiction of an era that in a great many ways was hugely problematic,’ says Turner. ‘It’s not being refracted through a modern lens and some of it is quite shocking, particularly the way women are treated. There’s also endless back-stabbing; Declan is detached, the one who sees what’s going on, and because he’s not from this class-bound world [he] struggles to understand the playbook – but he’s married to a woman who does and that causes tension.’

‘I felt it was important to look to older shows, the way they were presented and the communication style,’ says Turner. ‘The interviewee would be given time and space to answer questions in full. These days it’s very different; the nearest we have to that now would be podcasts.

“Once filming started, to be honest I was channelling my dad the whole time. He’s an electrician not a journalist, but Declan is very like him – the way he carries himself, the tone of his voice, his passion. He feels very Irish and so does Declan.’

For Alexander Lamb, an executive producer on Rivals, finding the right fit for the pivotal character of Declan was crucial. ‘The very first person we thought about – the very first person we cast – for Rivals was Aidan. He was the lynchpin because he just felt so right; he’s got depth but also such charm and that was exactly what we wanted. A lot of the cast was built around him.’

That cast also includes EastEnder Danny Dyer, Katherine Parkinson, best known for The IT Crowd, Emily Atack of Inbetweeners fame, and Claire Rushbrook, who was in the first series of Sherwood. When it came to Turner, Lamb had been impressed by his previous standout roles as a vampire in the supernatural series Being Human and a clinical psychologist in police procedural The Suspect.

‘Aidan hadn’t played sexy-dad-with-teenagers or an intellectual journalist before, so that gave the whole thing a freshness. I think there’s a lot to be gained from getting actors out of their comfort zones,’ observes Lamb. ‘I’ve never really worked with an actor before who was so conscious of his performance. He would come back behind the camera to see if he could improve on what he’d done.’

Dame Jilly, adds Lamb, needed no persuasion in casting Turner. ‘It did not escape her just how good-looking Mr Aidan Turner was. Let’s just say she became quite the fan.’ Turner responds in kind, with unalloyed admiration. ‘Jilly is so sharp, perceptive and really funny – she’s very kind, but as she was seeing the daily and the weekly rushes I am quite certain that if she hadn’t liked what any of us were doing, she would have told us very swiftly.’

‘I remember a surreal moment when she took me by the arm and led me around the garden, pointing out the place where she would write and how she would look over the valley,’ he says. ‘And then she pointed out the houses where her nearest neighbours and friends lived and said, “This is Declan O’Hara’s house, and that one’s Tony’s house,” and explained how she would visualise the world of Rivals. It was a very special moment.’

How magical, I say. He nods very slowly, the corners of his mouth twitching, eyes crinkling at the preciousness of the memory. He’s so unabashedly soulful, I almost have to look away. And so to business: is Turner really as handsome as they say? Hmm. Maybe that’s what strikes you first but, in truth, it’s the least interesting thing about him.

‘I was a lowly receptionist and Victoria Smurfit, who is my wife in Rivals, was a consultant,’ he smiles. ‘Let’s just say we didn’t have a huge number of scenes together back then, so it’s great to catch up now.’ Soon the BBC beckoned and he was cast as Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood drama Desperate Romantics.

The six-parter failed to make a mark, but led to a critically acclaimed role in the comedy-drama Being Human, where he caught the eye of director Sir Peter Jackson, who cast Turner as the dwarf Kili in The Hobbit trilogy between 2012 and 2014.

Hilariously, in Rivals, Declan finds himself sharing a schedule with a series called Four Men Went To Mow, featuring a quartet of topless hunks – with scythes. Turner almost leaps off the sofa when I bring it up. ‘I know! I was reading the script and when I saw the Four Men Went To Mow reference, I assumed someone was deliberately winding me up. Then I realised it was actually in the original book, so I took a deep breath and let it go.’

I can confirm he’s fully dressed for our interview, wearing a mustard top by British menswear brand Oliver Spencer, which he dryly describes as ‘drab chic’, Levi’s 501s, and a pair of trainers. He points out they are classic white Reeboks with a natural gum sole. I admit I didn’t know that was A Thing. ‘To be honest, neither did I,’ he shrugs in good-natured agreement. ‘They were a present from a mate of mine – he’s a musician so far cooler than me, obviously – and he was very emphatic that the soles were a big deal.’

On his wrist is a 1969 Omega Seamaster. ‘It cost less than £2,000, it was an anniversary gift and the only watch I own,’ he offers, pre-emptively. ‘Oh and I’m not sponsored by Omega, none of that.’ Would he like to be? I ask mischievously. ‘Ah well, I’d certainly take the phone call. You always like to have options.’ This is all the more interesting because later I ask if there’s any truth in tabloid rumours that he has variously been earmarked as the new Bergerac and the next James Bond. He denies both charges.

‘But you’d take the calls presumably?’ I suggest. A pregnant pause follows. ‘You know, I don’t think I would. I have to say I think I’d pass on those.’ Bergerac I can understand – but intimations of 007 are, like talk of knighthoods, not to be trifled with, much less dismissed out of hand, however cat’s-chance unlikely.

Last year he appeared opposite Jenna Coleman in a minimalist two-hander, the West End revival of Sam Steiner’s 2015 fringe hit Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, about love and language. Director Josie Rourke says she cast Turner not just because he is ‘brilliant’, but because he has an ability to connect with his character and with the audience.

‘Aidan is a very technical and focused actor who really works hard to prepare – in that respect he’s not dissimilar to David Tennant. That might make him sound dour or serious, but he’s very personable and funny,’ says Rourke, a former artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in London. ‘He’s acutely aware, in a lovely way, of every single person in the room. There’s something fundamentally unselfish about his performances.’

‘It sounds boring but I work, and then when a project is finished I start reading scripts again,’ he says. ‘I’m not on social media, I don’t get wrapped [up] comparing myself to anyone else. Frankly, it’s hard enough keeping track of my own career. Since the birth of our son, my wife and I have agreed that only one of us will take a job away from home at any given time; we’ve not [had] a clash yet but we’ll have to see what happens when the time comes.’

They did, however, both have plays on in the West End at one point last year; he was appearing in Lemons while she was in The Crucible.‘It worked out really well, we headed out in different directions during the day, catching up with friends and getting stuff done, far too busy to see each other,’ he recalls. ‘Each of us did our show then we would meet up afterwards and share a cab home. It was really fun, but that sort of synchronicity is quite rare.’

Like a lot of actors, Turner is guarded when it comes to discussing his personal life. Although frenzied interest from the paparazzi has calmed down post-Poldark, every so often pictures do appear in the tabloids – and Rivals will no doubt increase his bankability. It is something he accepts with equanimity.

‘If I do get snapped, I don’t make a fuss or get angry, but I try to stay out of the way.’ I remind him of a very striking photo of him putting the rubbish out in a frankly extraordinary receptacle. ‘Ah yes, maybe I should get rid of the fluorescent pink wheelie bin, a bit of an own goal,’ he sighs.

He plays golf, enjoys music, and is an avowed Nick Cave fan.

‘I’d have to say my favourite downtime is having friends round for good banter and food in the garden, weather allowing. I’m trying to perfect the manly art of beef brisket in my [Big] Green Egg barbecue. I think one of the reasons Rivals was such a happy show to work on was because so many of the scenes were us all together at parties. Then at the end of the day we’d kick back and half of us would still be in character.’

And what characters they are, all dressed up in their ’80s finery, jockeying for position, angling for seduction as Tears for Fears belt out Everybody Wants to Rule the World. Gen Z won’t understand, much less approve (lock up your 22-year-olds), but as a snapshot of a bygone age, Rivals promises to be TV gold, and at its glittering epicentre, Declan O’Hara, legendary brooding broadcaster with the biggest ’tache in town.

All episodes of Rivals are available on Disney+ from 18 October

#aidanturnerinternational #aidan turner #séries #rivals #declan o’hara #declan #disney+uk #disneyplus

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flipperbrain-awakes · 8 months ago

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I'm doing this gif thing in my Poldark fan group on fb, quick fav scenes. I posted a larger, longer higher-res version of this gif because damn, and pretty (I wish file sizes here could accommodate but oh well.) Some ladies were asking where that's from because they'd never seen it on Prime. I have Prime and also BritBox and the version I watch is an extended UK version... is this unseen/new info for some people? I thought we were all served up the same content. I wonder what else has been cut from a US version??

Honestly I hesitated, I knew some would love it but there's biddies in the neighborhood as well (prob not a very pc moniker but accurate). I think there was some clutching of pearls happening due to the 'nudity'. Is he nude here? I mean I wish!! I have to imagine the camera panning down in my mind's eye. But tbf you can see more at a men's swimming meet ffs. I guess this is the reason we can't have anything nice here because a spate of fucking might break out at the sight of Aidan Turner's abs.

Somebody mentioned Rivals possibly being edited for the US audience, was that you Stelly38? People like this must be the reason why. Thank God I am not and never will be like these women.

#personal rant #gtfo with that shit #I didn't tag you stelly in case you'd rather not be associated with my nonsense

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bravenewolympus--hq · 7 months ago

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𝒅𝒆𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓.

this character is allied with and/or a ranked member of the minotaur network.

suggested faces — please note, this character must be 25+ years old. aidan turner; milo ventimiglia; michiel huisman; alexander ludwig; alexander skarsgård; jack o'connell; stephen amell; robbie amell; jon bernthal; karl urban; brandon quinn; david harbour; tom hardy; santiago cabrera; diego luna; alan ritchson; ed skrein; alperen duymaz; ryan hurst; alexander dreymon.

suggested occupations. lieutenant or the muscle for the network, working as private security for the minotaur directly or some other big wig; a "collector" of sorts for the network sent to collect debts owed.

𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏.

ʙʀᴀᴠᴇ ɴᴇᴡ ᴏʟʏᴍᴘᴜꜱ : ᴀ 21+ ᴍᴏᴅᴇʀɴ ɢʀᴇᴇᴋ ᴍʏᴛʜᴏʟᴏɢʏ ᴅɪꜱᴄᴏʀᴅ ʀᴏʟᴇᴘʟᴀʏ. athens, new york: an island city, all trees and marble, glass and steel and highrises set against an ocean skyline. bustling and loud, crowded, but not without a bizarre sense that it must have sprung up overnight, somehow, when surely it must have always been here, no? on a clear night, you might even be able to see the lights of its more famous cousin, new york city, across the water…if you squint hard enough. it may not get as much attention as the shiny apple across the hudson, but those not so blinded by the lights must certainly have been coming here for years. is there something in the water here, too? no one leaves, not in any meaningful way anyway. feels like it has a special way of pulling you back in, if you try. they, that is anyone who was anyone or paid even an iota of attention to the evening news,, called him the minotaur. the media does love a catchy nom de guerre, doesn’t it? sells newspapers like hotcakes in the morning. ambrosia, whether it’s the latest designer drug trend or the latest pestilence sweeping the streets of athens, just depends on how tightly you clutch your pearls on sundays. must infuriate the police, don’t it? that without fail, by the time they arrive to any crime scene at all, all that’s left is the heap of little cream-coloured business cards, the red lines of a labyrinthine logo more taunting than they are helpful. between an epidemic of pearlescent powder, neatly parceled out in small plastic baggies, a tide of crimson bull graffiti, casinos and bordellos and the nightlife (oh my!), it’s no small wonder they call this an atlantic sin city. it’s a vice eat dog world, ain’t it? and anyone who calls athens home is just living in it. powerless, with no memory of their past lives, what's a god gotta do to survive?

#city rp #mythology rp #greek mythology rp #fantasy rp #mature rp #open skeleton #open male #open male skeleton #male skeleton #personifications #deimos

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lawlessfm · 2 years ago

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Who could you see for the anunnaki ceo?

oh my god, love this!!! anunnaki pharmaceuticals is probably one of my favourite ideas, personally, and originally had the ceo imagined out to be a very politically involved, pragmatic, overly ambitious, and merciless character. there’s also big plans in the works regarding the company and the ceo. this is someone who has an air of power around them, and also is a widow / widower depending on who you want to bring. with that in mind, a few faceclaims i can see working would be: rahul kohli, vera farmiga, sandra oh, laverne cox, barış arduç, daniel kaluuya, jamie chung, bethany joy lenz, aidan gillen, lupita nyong’o, dwayne johnson, viola davis, jessica barden, sophie turner, daisy edgar-jones, elodie yung, vanessa kirby, edgar ramirez, max thieriot, boyd holbrook, cliff curtis, stellan skarsgård, denzel washington, omar epps, raymond ablack, michelle yeoh, ming na wen, keke palmer, mahershala ali, thandie newton, and catherine zeta-jones to name a few options!

#appless rp #crime rp #cyberpunk rp #literate rp #ANSWERED.

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clubvertigo · 9 months ago

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ahahahahaha OH MY GOD that is HILARIOUS that must have happened while I wasn't about because I have not seen that before XDDDD oh that's made my WEEK, especially after all that nonsense with the hardcore Cromwich shippers (ugh even typing the ship name makes me uncomfortable)

hee! Usually I am the Soul of Professionalism (I once blanked Aidan Turner while Poldark was filming at Welles Hall, passed within a foot of him and totally ignored him) but I have to admit that serving Luke Evans icecream might possibly have been a struggle to do without coming over a little unnecessary, I have a very annoying and unaccountable crush on that man XD actually if you managed to avoid Lewis and Endeavour I'm impressed, I have the impression they were constantly camped out on the streets of Oxford! :D

ugh YES that's it, you've put your finger right on it. He's just...unrepentant. He thinks he's *right* and there's nobody to tell him otherwise. (hmmm, bit like some other people I could think of *whistles*) ughhhhhh >.< I am so glad that a) Ahmed wrote his book, and b) the series took the story and ran with it, it's the most effective way of getting it out there and telling the truth to as many people as possible. Better late than never, I guess. It's such a relief that it's not just 'my secret' any more, because that is *not* a secret I feel comfortable keeping.

2 and 18 for the current WIP asks

2. Give the first line of this chapter/fic

Settling in with snacks for Some Fantastic Cromwich Content RN. Surprised by the content warning at the beginning though.

(From the in universe Tudors OT3 Verse discord discussion of Unmasked Part I and II aka the episodes of The Tudors in this universe in which if you don’t know the history you will be Getting A Shock that @nocompromise-noregrets @herawell have really helped to build this one)

18. Share the scene you just wrote, written from another character’s POV

Aleksander takes a look at the jewellery he has chosen for his precious sunshines - he likes elegant pieces but pieces that make clear that they are his, that no one is to touch them - Alina’s is midnight black diamonds set in gold with earrings to match, Nikolai’s bracelets to match. Yes, he’s visiting the training centre but he won’t let them out of his sight, not when he has so little time. Not when some in the capital still don’t believe they are for him alone.

(From my Grishaverse Hunger Games featuring Capital Mentor Aleksander who may or may not have been a Victor at all, is definitely playing both Coin and the President of Panem against each other and picked both Alina and Nikolai to be his ‘lovers’)

#tudors ot3 'verse #(the aidan turner thing actually happened XD )

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adsagsona · 2 years ago

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I’ve got no idea why Kili Durin is suddenly on my radar again (other than that he’s played by Aidan Turner of course) but I love this goofy strong dwarf. Just FYI.

#aidan turner #kili durin #who knows one day I'll add him when I'm over the 'oh my god how would I ever be able to write a character like that!'

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lordandladybridgerton · 6 years ago

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BESPOKE MAN

Credit: daverushenphoto

#aidan turner #bespoke man #oh my god #I die with him in this bespoke suit with the orange sweater #DIE

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dumbass-status-updates · 4 years ago

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god I can literally feel myself turning into an aidan turner simp someone help me

#me: I’m probably aspec tbh #aidan turner:#me: oh my godddd oh my god ohhhh my godddd

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ms-march · 4 years ago

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TADEUSZ KOSCIUSZKO FILM IN THE MAKING GET HYPE

#OH MY GOD #IM GOING OFF THE RAILS TONIGHT #I think it will break my heart to see anyone but Aidan turner #and I know it’s not gonna be Aidan turner #it’s my boy #my baby #the love of my life #tadeusz kościuszko #thaddeus kosciuszko #I’m about to become insufferable #he better be sexy #I swear to god #kosciuszko

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enchantzz · 2 years ago

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Mitchell’s Diary - Belle

One-shots in the series of Art & Vampires. Excerpts from Mitchell’s diary.

Words: 748

The long overdue background story of Belle, Mitchell's first love.

Art & Vampires is about the relationship and developments around Mitchell, a vampire and Amy (Ames), a human. It’s about the vampire world, the supernatural, but also about history, cities around the world, art, antiques and adventures.

Face claims vampires: Aidan Turner - John Mitchell, Richard Armitage - Rick Marlowe, Jaime Murray - Alana (Lana) Lenoir and Ben Barnes - Ben Sheldon. Humans: Mila Kunis - Amy (Ames) Quinn, Bianca Lawson - Lena Parker (witch).

List of Mitchell’s diary One Shots in the Art & Vampires Master list

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

My Belle, oh how beautiful and marvellous she was. It seems only yesterday when we met, in New Orleans, but it has been over a century. Time certainly does not fly being a vampire, but when I think of Belle, somehow I get transported back in time and it’s like it was only yesterday. I love my Ames, my love in this lifetime, and I wouldn’t know what to do without her, but Belle was the first love of my life. That’s a contradiction, when you think about it, because the love of my life should mean only one love. But I guess our vampire life is different and so are my feelings. I love Ames as much, or maybe even more, than my beautiful Belle back in the day. But I don’t really want to compare.

It was a beautiful summer evening in New Orleans, just before the turn of the century, the 19th century. There was a feast of some sort, I can’t quite remember, but I do remember Belle. People were dancing and there she was. It seemed like the world around me stopped existing and I could only see this beautiful girl, with her long dark hair, her beautiful smile, dancing in her bright red dress. Time seemed to slow down as I could only stare at her.

She noticed me looking at her, following her every move and being her daring self, she approached me, held out her hand, inviting me to dance with her. No words were spoken. She mesmerized me with her beautiful dark eyes and enticing smile. We danced and danced and at the end of the night, she had captured my heart and I was lost.

After that first encounter, we met every day. She brought so much joy in my life. Rick liked her too and even Alana sort of got a liking to her, though not as much as she is taking a liking to my Ames. Those two are the best of friends by now.

There came a time when I had to tell her that I was a vampire, but I didn’t know how and I didn’t want to scare her off, but it had to be done. But there was no need. Belle already knew and still, she loved me just for who I was.

We were making plans to spend our lives together, marry even, when that dreaded sickness, yellow fever, hit the city. Belle was tending to family and friends and as I had feared, she got sick too. I was by her side every single minute of the day and I told her to fight and I pleaded with the gods that she might survive, but she didn’t, she succumbed to the illness and my beautiful Belle was taken from me.

I was heartbroken and I thought I would die of grief. I was angry too and started feeding off people again. Rick took me away from New Orleans to New York, to heal. In the end, after years, I was able to live with the sorrow of not having my Belle in my life, but it still pained me to think of her for a very long time.

I’ve had girls over the long years of my life, but I never got attached to anyone. Maybe out of fear of losing someone again, maybe because I thought I could never love anyone like I had loved my precious Belle, until I met Ames. She is quite something, to have captured my heart.

The first time I went on a business trip with Ames, I got to see my Belle again. I never knew what had happened to the painting, that someone had commissioned and there it was, in the Heritage Mansion.

Sometimes, I steal away from everyone and everything, to go see my Belle, in the mansion. We are on good terms with the owner and he thinks that I just like the antiques and art in the house. He knows that I like the painting, but he doesn’t know why. I never told any human, except Ames.

I’m grateful to live close to the mansion and that I’m able to look at my beautiful Belle from time to time. To be able to reminisce upon our time together, so long ago. It’s important to me, so that I don’t forget. Although I don’t think I ever could. After all, she was the first love of my life, my Belle.

If you enjoyed reading the story, please consider leaving a comment, a like or reblog the story. Thank you for sharing the love ❤️

@the-poldarkian @guardianofrivendell @linasofia @laurfilijames @deanwanddamons @fizzyxcustard @middleearthpixie @legolasbadass @lathalea @i-did-not-mean-to @kibleedibleedoo @xxbyimm @aidan-26 @bitter-sweet-farmgirl @shiinata-library

Please let me know if you would like to be on or removed from the tag list

#Aidan turner #Mitchell #Being Human UK AU #Mitchell AU #Fan fiction #Fan fic #Richard armitage #Vampires #History #Art and vampires #The supernatural #Art #Antiques #Mitchell's Diary

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